Hotel remembers the week a bellboy helped shape history

Many students of history know the Chateau Frontenac was the site of one of the most significant conferences of the Second World War.

They know that, at the 1943 Quebec Conference, the leaders of Canada, the United States and Britain agreed to launch a military attack that would ultimately turn the tide of the war.

But few people know that a bellboy played an important role that week.

After the conference had ended and the leaders had left with their huge entourages, Frank Brittle discovered a document in the towering Chateau.

It was the Allies' plans for D-Day.

Recognizing the importance of the papers, Brittle handed them over to Canadian military officials.

Years later, he was awarded a medal for his good deed.

Historians acknowledge that, if the papers had fallen into the wrong hands, the consequences would have been grave.

Brittle's story comes to mind now as the Chateau Frontenac marks the 60th anniversary of the historic conference by unveiling a permanent exhibit of photographs of the meeting between Mackenzie King, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.

The exhibit will line the corridor outside the room where they met, and will tell the story of the week in which Quebec City was turned into an armed fortress and anti-aircraft battery installed on the terrace outside the hotel.